Fate, Free-will and God's will by Sri N. Ananthanarayanan

[Guest guest]

Taken from the November's Spiritual Monthly Magazine " Sivananda

Bharati " of A.P. Divine Life Society, Secunderabad.

 

Strange are the world's ways. Strange ist he working of the human

ego. When egoistic people succeed in their puerile pursuits, they

boast on every side: " I did this. I did that' Nothing can stop me

from succeeding. Nothing can prevent me from doing twhat I want to

do. " They take all the credit for their success upon themselves.

When those very people fall in some other direction, they say, " It's

all fate. See, idiots are prospering. It's my bad luck. " They tap

their foreheads with their fingers and exclaim, " Taqdeer! Kismat! " .

Thus, when they suceed, they attribute their success to their own

dynamci ability, and when they fail, they trace their failure to

some vague " distiny'. They lay the balme on taqdeer. They do not

want to take the balme upon themselves.

 

Did I suceed? Ah, yes. I exercised my free-will. Did I fail? Fate

willed it so. This is opportunistic logic. This is fooling oneself.

This is self-contradictory. But the whole world talks in this

fashion. At the back of this false logic is the human ego.

 

Lord Action said, " Power currupts, Absolute power currupts

absolutely. " Like wise, success also currupts the mind. The

successful man's head swells. He beings to forget God. He begins to

think high of himself. He begins to brag. He will talk of

achievemnet. He will talk contemptuously of those who meet with

failure in life. He will sermonise on free-will.

 

Contd...